A/N: sithlorde1988 here, with another new story! And THIS time it's not a one-shot like the last 'new story' I posted! It's actually another reboot of an older story I didn't get around to finishing, in this case Bakugan: The Pyrus Chronicles! Per necessity, here's the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: sithlorde1988 does NOT own Bakugan in any way shape or form (whether it be any of the seasons of the TV show or the video games). The ones that DO own it know who they are, that and I don't remember the exact info on who DOES own it since it's been a bit since I worked with Pyrus Chronicles, or as the reboot will be called, Bakugan: The Pyrex Chronicles! The story will be rated T, mainly for the fairly frequent occurences of strong language, occasional mentions of rough subject matter, and frequent shows of violence, as well as some light but likely romance later in the story. To make a long story short here, at this time the only likely pairings to happen are probably gonna be AlicexOC, BillyxJulie, DanxRuno, and maybe one or two others that I'm still deciding on at this time but will name later. I'd make this A/N longer, but a) this has been pushed back long enough, b)the end-chapter A/N will probably be longer than this one, and c)I frankly don't have that much else to say here, other than to thank JustAnAverageGuy101 for their input into this story! In case I didn't yet mention it, they're actually kinda helping me write it insofar as they're giving input into it and stuff so we'll see how this goes. That said, NOW onto chapter 1!
BAKUGAN: THE PYREX CHRONICLES
Chapter 1: Tales of the First Brawler! Enter Pyrex and Leonidas!
(unknown part of Wardington)
"Don't be a fool! YOU honestly think you can take me, Pyrex? Even if you ARE more than just a legend, that's not likely going to be enough to stop me! I, the great Masquerade, aim to be the best Bakugan player in the whole world, so losing to you is unacceptable!" A masked blonde-haired male taunted his opponent, the now-named Pyrex. Pyrex for their part merely rolled their eyes, not that it was easy to tell due to the red hood and black mask over their face and the red optics placed over the eye sockets to hide their identity.
"YOU, the number one Bakugan player? Now THAT's a laugh, Masquerade! Oh well, if you insist, let's get this over with!" Pyrex scoffed at Masquerade, the two making to get out their Gate Cards to open the Field, neither seeing the small red-and-yellow marble hopping off from behind them, not expecting to find Masquerade himself while out gathering leads. And the one Masquerade was taunting before the Gate Cards came out...Pyrex, if the marble's recollection served it right was the name given. If that Pyrex is the same Pyrex the marble thought it was, this might be a lot bigger than just Masquerade. Before the marble could ponder much more, it found itself bumping against the blue shoe of its' partner. Said partner, an average-height young man with green and blue goggles, a red jacket worn open over a blue shirt, red jeans and the aforementioned blue sneakers picked the marble up after feeling it hit his shoe, and smiled down at it.
"Oh, there you are, Drago. Any luck gathering leads, buddy?" The young man asked the now named Drago, short for Pyrus Dragonoid, who nodded after finding sturdy footing on its partner's shoulder.
"Oh yeah, and then some, Daniel. But I think this is stuff that is best off only told once. Gather the Brawlers, since this concerns all of you, especially if I wasn't mistaken in what I saw. So you know how serious it is, it involves Masquerade." Drago said to the now named Daniel, or Dan as most call him for short, whose eyes widened at Drago before he nodded. He then pulled up the watch-like object on his right arm and hit a button on the front, making a talkscreen pop up.
"Brawlers, Drago found something, but he wants all of us to gather so he can tell all of us at once. So when you get this, let's meet up at Marucho's house, ok? Later!" Dan said into his watch, presumably sending the other Brawlers a message to gather them. At that, Dan then grabbed Drago and started heading towards Marucho's house, both eager and curious to hear what Drago had to say.
(meanwhile, at Marucho's house)
At the same time that Dan had sent his message via the watch-like device on his arm, a small blonde-haired, green eyed boy with glasses was typing away on a computer, looking at stuff on a screen when he heard his own watch-like device go off, making him jump just a bit, before looking down at his wrist and then glancing at the small blue marble next to him.
"Oh, look at that, Preyas. Looks like Dan sent a message on everyone's Baku-Pods. Wonder what's up?" The boy said to his marble, now named Preyas. Preyas shrugged, or as close to shrugging as a marble can get.
"Your guess is as good as mine, little buddy. Hopefully Drago found something on Masquerade. Don't you agree, Marucho?" Preyas said to the now-named Marucho in an excitable tone of voice, his eyes alight with excitement. Marucho returned the shrug before listening to Dan's message. He then frowned and went to find his butler, Kato. Eventually, Marucho found Kato in the kitchen. Kato looked over and smiled as he saw Marucho.
"Ah, good day Young Master Marucho. And how might I be of assistance this afternoon?" Kato asked Marucho.
"I need you to go and pick up a few of my friends and bring them back here. Apparently something's come up and they're being asked to gather here. Can you do that, Kato?" Marucho asked the now named Kato, who nodded with a bow.
"As you wish, Young Master. I shall depart immediately. I assume you wish me to fetch Miss Runo, Miss Julie, Miss Alice, Master Dan and Master Shun?" Kato asked Marucho, who nodded.
"Yes, that's exactly who I want you to fetch, Kato." Marucho said to Kato with a nod. Kato bowed and left to do as Marucho asked.
(meanwhile back with Masquerade and Pyrex)
"And that's game. What was that about being the number-one Bakugan player in the world, Masquerade? You're not gonna get there playing like that." Pyrex scoffed at Masquerade as Masquerade's Bakugan dropped to the ground behind him with an audible clunk. Masquerade scowled at Pyrex.
"This is nothing more than a minor setback. I'll just have to get stronger, that's all. And make no mistake, I WILL get stronger. Only after I DO get stronger will I be coming back after you and your Bakugan, Pyrex. Make no mistake, your Bakugan will be sent to the Doom Dimension by me sooner or later! No one, not even supposed legends, are going to be spared! So enjoy this win while you can!" Masquerade taunted Pyrex before disappearing from view in the flash of a card.
Pyrex seemed unbothered by Masquerade's parting words, instead turning on the spot and also disappearing in a swirl of flame, finding himself back inside his bedroom moments later. After that, he made sure the door was locked before he lowered his hood, removing his trenchcoat and hanging it up in his closet, his Bakugan tucked safely in the chest pocket, placing the mask he took off afterward in the other chest pocket for easy storage before closing the closet, and sitting on his bed, staring at his reflection in the nearby mirror.
Despite only being 15 years old, Pyrex, or Rubedo as his real name happened to be, was quite mature-looking for his age, his defined cheekbones and stern gaze being framed by a slightly pointed but prominent chin and striking grey eyes with an almost button nose. After that, Rubedo shrugged, running a hand idly through his shoulder-length dirty blonde (almost brown) hair that he then pulled into a ponytail to keep it out of his eyes. After that, he then decided to log onto his computer to make sure he didn't miss any challenges or anything while he was out.
Though Rubedo doubted he'd have any challenges given he'd just recently moved to Wardington. He hadn't wanted to initially but his mother had insisted. And Rubedo did so hate to defy or disobey her. Rubedo shrugged, finding no messages, as he expected. He then turned to the Bakugan on his desk by the computer (a different set from the three in his coat) and smiled at them.
"At least I have you guys for now. That's more than I was expecting to have when we moved here. But then I can't be so surprised that I don't have that many friends. After all, it's kind of hard to keep in touch with one's old friends when one both metaphorically and literally disappears for 15 years. But that was a story for another time. For now, Rubedo shrugged as he started flipping through Bakugan articles on the internet, deciding to read up on the Brawlers, who he'd heard about when he'd first moved into town, and was curious to learn more about as they sounded like a strong group.
(Meanwhile, back at Marucho's house)
"And here we are, now everyone's here!" Kato said as he landed in front of Marucho's house, opening up the jet doors so the group could exit. First of course was Dan and Drago. After them emerged a blue-haired, brown-eyed girl in a yellow short shirt and white skirt with pink shoes, a white-haired, brown-eyed, dark skinned girl with a pink short shirt and shorts as well as white boots, a dark-haired male with dark brown eyes wearing a purple long shirt and matching pants with black boots, and finally a red-headed girl with brown eyes, a green shirt that she wore under a white partial dress that had a shorter white skirt (knee-length) and white shoes. After they all got off, Kato exited after them and closed off the plane before allowing the group into Marucho's house, where they all headed to Marucho's room to meet up.
"Ah, good, you're all here. Now Dan can hopefully let Drago tell us what he found out." Marucho said with a smile as the group filed in.
"Of course Dan was the one to call this meeting. It usually IS him who does that." The blue-haired girl said with a mixed amused and teasing eye-roll towards Dan who scoffed.
"Back off, Runo! And for the record, Drago's the one who asked for this meeting, not me!" Dan corrected the now-named Runo who huffed.
"Oh, whatever. So what did Drago find out?" Runo replied, crossing her arms but otherwise paying attention to Drago. Drago turned to the others.
"Well, first of all, I found Masquerade in a back alley earlier getting ready to do battle with another hooded and masked battler. I didn't catch a lot of specifics, but I DID manage to catch the name of Masquerade's opponent." Drago started to explain to the brawlers, but then the white haired girl interrupted.
"You found Masquerade? Oh no, hopefully whoever he's battling knows what they're doing!" The white-haired girl said, clasping her arms together in front of her generous chest with an excited sort of squeal, to Dan and Runo's annoyance.
"Julie, focus! Drago was trying to tell us about Masquerade's opponent. Please continue, Drago." Marucho gently chided the now-named Julie who huffed at Marucho.
"Hmph! All right, fine, continue Drago." Julie said as she crossed her arms but gave Drago her attention.
"Thank you. Now as I was saying, I caught the name of Masquerade's opponent, but I couldn't believe my ears when I heard the name, as if this person is who I think they are, then one of Vestroia's first Brawlers is here in Wardington." Drago said, pausing for a moment to let his words sink in. Unsurprisingly, the dark-haired male spoke up.
"Really? And that's a big deal?" The dark-haired male spoke up. However, rather than Drago, the green marble on his shoulder answered him.
"If it is who Drago thinks it is, then yes it is. This Brawler is a legend, even amongst us Bakugan. Now let Drago finish his explanation, Shun." The marble gently scolded the now-named Shun who sighed but nodded, crossing his arms in front of him but giving his focus to Drago.
"Very well Skyress, I'll listen." Shun said to the now named Skyress. Drago then kept speaking.
"The name of Masquerade's opponent is Pyrex. But I don't know if it's THE Pyrex or just someone trying to use that name for their own ends." Drago said, expecting the gasps that came not only from Preyas and Skyress, but the marbles with Julie and Runo as well. Runo's marble, a white and yellow one, looked at Drago.
"Are you quite sure Masquerade said the name Pyrex?" The marble asked Drago.
"Yes, Tigrerra. I'm positive that was the name Masquerade dropped. However, I had to hurry back to tell you of what I saw so I didn't get to see what Bakugan Pyrex has so it could be just a pretender for all I know. But if it is THE Pyrex, then there should be information about not only him, but his partner Leonidas as well." Drago replied to the now-named Tigrerra. The orange-haired girl then stroked her chin thoughtfully before turning to Drago.
"And where was this alley you found Masquerade in, Drago?" The orange-haired girl asked Drago.
"If I recall correctly, it was downtown somewhat, kind of near both the restraunt Runo works at and fairly near to Dan's house. Why do you ask, Alice?" Drago replied to the now-named Alice who smiled.
"Because if I'm right about that location, I think that's where that new kid just moved in that just moved into town. Granted he's still fairly new to town so it's unlikely he saw anything." Alice said with a shrug. Runo looked at Alice.
"New kid...oh wait, are you talking about that new guy, Rubedo Uzuki, who just moved into town and joined our school?" Runo asked Alice, suddenly curious. Alice nodded.
"Hmm...I wonder if this Rubedo kid plays Bakugan? Could be interesting to test his skills out sometime." Dan said with a smile.
"Do you think the battle is still going on right now, Drago?" The marble next to Julie spoke up, his deep tones making his voice easily audible. Drago frowned.
"Honestly Gorem, I'm not sure. It might already be over for all we know." Drago said to the now-named Gorem. At that moment, Preyas frowned as he looked at Marucho's computer screen.
"Hey Marucho, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the rankings just change?" Preyas asked Marucho who turned to look at the monitor, where he saw that Preyas was correct. He then gasped when he looked at the scoreboards.
"Drago! I think I found Masquerade's opponent! Look here at the battler currently ranked 49th!" Marucho called to Drago who hopped over and looked at the screen, frowning as he saw the hooded figure in 49th before his eyes went wide.
"Yep, that's the guy Masquerade was fighting. The fact he's that high up suggests he's very very good." Drago said in surprise. Marucho clicked on the brawler and his jaw dropped.
"Unreal! According to his bio, Pyrex has only ever not won a battle once, and that battle ended in a draw. But that's not why I was surprised. It says here that he just one-shotted Masquerade with only his Pyrus Leonidas." Marucho said wide-eyed, and all the Bakugan (aka the marbles) gaped at this, all going wide-eyed.
"D-did you say Leonidas? Drago said, what could almost pass for a cross of reverence, awe and even shock in his voice. Marucho nodded.
"That's correct, Drago. It says here Leonidas is Pyrex's main Bakugan. And it says Leonidas has yet to outright lose a battle, only having had a few ties, most recently against Masquerade's Hydranoid before beating it in the following round." Marucho read from the bio page. Drago and the other Bakugan exchanged a look.
"Then it seems it IS the Pyrex I thought it was. In that case, it would seem we have a legend to share with you six so you can understand the significance of the names Pyrex and Leonidas. But the tale is a bit of a long one so I hope none of you have anywhere to be anytime soon." Drago said to the Brawlers. Each of the Brawlers exchanged uncertain looks before looking to Marucho.
"Well, I mean, none of us has school since it's a Friday night AND it's summer vacation, so I suppose we can ask if this can turn into a sleepover so Drago has plenty of time to tell his story if you're all okay with that?" Marucho eventually suggested uneasily after a brief moment of hesitation. While Julie, Shun and Alice immediately nodded their agreement, Runo hesisated while Dan just shrugged.
"I don't mind that, but what if my parents suddenly call me in to help at the cafe? That could be problematic if it's during Drago's story." Runo spoke up with a frown. Alice then smiled.
"Not to worry. Your parents told me to tell you we both have tomorrow off since they're going out of town and closing up the cafe while they go to restock supplies." Alice said to Runo who then smiled.
"Ah. In that case, I'm for a sleepover." Runo said smiling. Marucho nodded.
"Excellent. I'll go ask my parents for permission now so if you can pause the story until I get back that would be great, Drago." Marucho said as Drago nodded in agreement before he left to go downstairs. After he left, Dan leaned against a wall before looking at Drago.
"So if I'm right, being as the guy's named Pyrex, would I be right to assume he uses Pyrus-type Bakugan?" Dan asked Drago. Drago nodded.
"That is correct, Dan. Though supposedly his are some of the strongest Pyrus types to exist, almost being as strong as Apollonir himself." Drago said cautiously. Dan raised an eyebrow.
"Is Apollonir another Bakugan?" Dan asked, not familiar with that name. This time it was Preyas who nodded.
"Oh yeah. He's one of six Bakugan so strong, that together they're called the Legendary Six Soldiers of Vestroia." Preyas answered Dan. Drago frowned at Preyas.
"But that's not what we're discussing just now. And certainly not with Marucho not here." Drago reminded Preyas who blinked then nodded. Tigrerra huffed from on Runo's shoulder.
"Honestly Drago, are we still surprised that Preyas can be daft sometimes?" Tigrerra asked teasingly, ignoring the huff from Preyas in favor of Drago's low chuckling.
"Too true, Tigrerra. Too true. But despite that, he's still a good friend when it counts so we can overlook that." Drago said. About that time, Marucho returned.
"My parents have given their okay for a sleepover. Now all that's left is for you all to get okays from your parents, or in Alice's case from Runo's parents since you're staying with Runo while you're in town." Marucho said to the others who dispersed to do just that, the Bakugan staying in Marucho's room with Marucho while their partners left the room.
"Well, one thing's for sure." Skyress said warily after a lengthy silence. Marucho and Preyas turned to Skyress.
"And what's that, Skyress?" Marucho said.
"If he managed to beat Masquerade on his own, Leonidas must be one tough Bakugan, to say nothing of how good his partner Pyrex is." Skyress remarked. Drago nodded to Skyress' statement.
"Indeed. Neither Pyrex OR Leonidas are to be underestimated." Drago said eventually.
"While I agree with you, why do I feel like you're understating that slightly, Drago?" Gorem said in his usual deep voice. Drago smirked.
"That's because I am. But again, we're waiting for the Brawlers to get the okay before I launch into the story as it's kind of a long one." Drago said. Eventually the Brawlers all came back in, smiling.
"We all got okays from our folks, even if some of them were a bit reluctant to agree." Dan told Marucho, a slight smirk on his face as he seemed to look at Shun in particular as he said this, ignoring the unamused eye roll Shun gave him.
"Gee Dan, you say that like it's a bad thing that my grandfather worries about me." Shun said in a slightly deadpan tone. He ignored the two 'aww's that came from Runo and Julie behind him at his remark to Dan, not wanting to deal with the girls at that moment. Alice just smiled at Shun.
"That's nice that you and he get along so well, Shun." Alice said softly to Shun, giving him an encouraging nod which he returned. Dan huffed.
"Ah whatever, I was only teasing you Shun. But anyways, so Drago, what's the 411 on this Pyrex and Leonidas you seem to be quite fond of?" Dan asked Drago with a smirk.
"Dan, shut up. Just because I have reverence for them doesn't mean I'm fond of them. Anyways, if you're all good to be here for a few hours, we can begin our tale." Drago said to the Brawlers, who all nodded, even Shun. Drago nodded back.
"Good. Okay, so the legend goes like this. Long, long ago back when Vestroia was fairly new, all Bakugan lived in one single world at peace. It was only after what we Bakugan refer to as the 'Wonder Revolution' that Vestroia was split into six worlds, one for each of the different attributes. As you might remember, those six Attributes are referred to even today as Haos (Light), Subterra (Earth), Pyrus (Fire), Aquos (Water), Ventus (Wind) and Darkus (Darkness).
However, what isn't as commonly mentioned is that along with those six Attributes are some Bakugan who were born not belonging to any one singular Attribute. These rare few Bakugan are referred to as the White Ones. I personally know two of these 'White Ones', a pair of siblings named Wavern and Naga. At first they just stayed in the void between worlds. But then Naga let his lust for power and desire to rule overcome him, which drove him to go after the two cores of Vestroia, otherwise known as the Silent Core and the Infinity Core.
However, our story goes back to before Naga or Wavern existed. Back then, all Bakugan shared one singular dimension. And this might surprise you to hear this, but back then Vestroia had humans living there." Drago said, expecting the shocked gasps that came from Marucho, Shun and Dan as well as the looks of shock from Runo and Alice and the squeal from Julie. He then cleared his throat before resuming his story.
"Yes, humans came to Vestroia back then, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say human since it was only one human that actually made it to Vestroia. The human was a male who was maybe a bit older than Shun is when he showed up. When he first washed up on shore, the Bakugan didn't think much of him, but over time he proved his skill and worth time and time again, persevering through the challenges the world posed to him.
In doing this, he commanded the attention and intrigue of the Legendary Six Soldiers, specifically Apollonir who took an interest, and over time even a liking to the human and helped him to survive long periods of time in Vestroia. The story goes that he even gave this human a limited ability to command the Pyrus element itself, imbuing his body with some of his own power and, if I'm remembering the story correctly, the ability to fight on the level of the Bakugan. And during this training, the human was introduced to Apollonir's two bodyguards/pupils: Pyrus Leonidas and Pyrus Hydranoid. Like most Bakugan and unlike their mentor, the two were somewhat apprehensive and distrustful of the human, but nevertheless they respected their mentor's wish.
The legend goes that sometime during or after the human was trained by Apollonir and the Six Ancient Soldiers, a renegade Bakugan was born of the negative energies of the Doom Dimension, from which it escaped, giving the Ancients the slip, and proceeded to attempt to seize the Perfect Core for itself. The Bakugan was called Vladitor, a Bakugan created out of hatred, resent and a craving for power that made him a formidable threat to even the Six Ancient Soldiers.
Vladitor gave the Ancients the slip and sought to absorb the power of the Perfect Core, a power that would have made him more than a match for the Ancients. Only what Vladitor didn't count on was for the human to stand in his way or for Leonidas to join in on the battle. Fighting together, the battle lasted for a long time, until the Ancients arrived and used their powers to send Vladitor back to the Doom Dimension from whence he came.
And in the end, after a lengthy struggle, the ancients with the help of the huaman managed to drive off the renegade Bakugan with the cooperation of Pyrus Leonidas. Leonidas, like his mentor before him, had taken a liking to the human much like Apollonir had done.
Not long after that, Leonidas like his mentor ended up taking his liking of the human so far that he wound up willingly making himself the human's partner after that. From that point on, due to his affinity for Pyrus Bakugan and the fact that Apollonir himself had entrusted the Pyrus Medallion to the human, the human was from then on known and named to the Bakugan as Pyrex. And he would go on to stay in Vestroia for a great many many years mastering many things related to Bakugan and Pyrus in general, gaining victory after victory with his partner before the pair ended up fading back into the eye of legend. Or so I thought, until I saw him challenging Masquerade to a battle earlier.
If this is the same Pyrex from the legends, then both he AND Leonidas are not opponents to be taken lightly. The legend says that this Pyrex may have even been the very first human to ever play Bakugan. I tell you all this not only to impress on you all how significant these names are, but to help you all understand that he is definitely someone we want to have as an ally.
ESPECIALLY if he can defeat Masquerade with just Leonidas. I can freely admit that Leonidas is a Bakugan that I don't even think I could stand up to at this time. So I suggest we be careful of Pyrex and Leonidas for now until we can make sure it's the ones from the legend and not just a pretender or a possible descendant of the legendary Brawler." Drago said to the Brawlers, whose jaws dropped at what Drago had told them. Marucho then had a thought as he looked at Preyas and Drago.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you guys mention earlier that Apollonir was one of the Legendary Six Soldiers of Vestroia? What's the deal with that?" Marucho asked.
"That's a longer story, Marucho. For now, I'll just tell you that there was one soldier of each Attribute. For Pyrus, it was Apollonir. Aquos got Frosch. Ventus got Oberus. Haos got Lars Lion. Subterra got Clayf, and for Darkus it was Exedra. These six are said to be among the strongest Bakugan of their respective elements. However, last I heard, they were in isolation on Vestroia, having only just avoided being sent to the Doom Dimension by Vladitor. The last anyone's seen or heard of Vladitor, he was being used in battles by a Brawler by the name of Marduk." Drago explained to Marucho who nodded.
"I see. Thank you for that explanation, Drago." Marucho asked. Dan's face split into a grin suddenly.
"If he's that good, i totally want to Brawl him even if I don't win just to see how my skills stack against his. It could be fun." Dan said with a grin. Drago groaned.
"Daniel, be serious. If he's half as good as the stories say, we wouldn't stand a chance. Leonidas is said to be one of the strongest species of Dragonoids, hence his appointment as one of Apollonir's bodyguards, to say nothing of his being trained personally by Apollonir. So we cannot take him lightly." Drago chastised Dan who shrugged.
"Fine, fine, I'll listen to you on this one Drago." Dan said. Behind him, Julie and Runo exchanged mischievous smirks.
"Never mind how strong he is, I wonder if he's really cute under that mask?" Julie asked eagerly. Runo shrugged.
"No clue, Julie. But I would be VERY surprised if he was actually single, never mind cute." Runo said uncertainly. Julie giggled at Runo's response.
"That just makes him more mysterious though, don't you think? And that makes a guy more interesting in my opinion." Julie replied with a smile. Alice rolled her eyes.
"And I take that to mean you're over your not-so-secret interest in Dan?" Alice said with a teasing smirk, ignoring the indignant glare Runo gave her as well as the huff from Dan, who frowned at Alice.
"Oh, come on! Don't encourage them, Alice!" Dan half-whined, half scoffed as he crossed his arms in annoyance.
"Who ISN'T Julie interested in these days?" Runo joked after she'd calmed down. Julie rolled her eyes.
"Oh please Runo. Don't exaggerate. Besides, you're the one who was openly calling Shun a hunk before." Julie pointed out while sticking her tongue out at Runo, while Shun blinked at Julie's comment.
"Wait, back up a second. Runo said WHAT about me?" Shun asked, frowning as he heard his name before glancing towards Runo who gave Shun a sheepish smile.
"Yeeah, I MIGHT have been saying that to rile Dan up before you joined the team. I didn't mean anything by it though." Runo admitted. Dan laughed.
"What would I have to be jealous of, Runo? I see you a lot already, don't I?" Dan asked with a grin, as Runo looked away in embarrassment that Dan had heard her reply.
"That's beside the point, Dan. Then again, I don't expect you to understand how a girl's mind works being as you're still so immature." Runo said with a playful smile as she saw Dan frown at her reply.
"Immature? Really? That's real nice, Runo." Dan huffed. Alice giggled at Dan's reply in spite of herself.
"If you weren't so busy dancing around it, you'd probably be a really cute couple." Alice teased Dan and Runo who simultaneously felt their faces heat up in embarrassment.
"KNOCK OFF THE COUPLE TALK!" Dan and Runo both replied, blinking at their unintentional speaking in unison, prompting Marucho, Julie and Alice to all laugh/giggle at them, while Shun smirked at them.
"She and I aren't a couple. C'mon Drago, back me up here!" Dan shouted as he turned to Drago for support.
"You mean you two aren't a couple? That's news to me." Drago said with a smirk, causing Dan to epically facefault on the ground at Drago's quip, while the other Brawlers (barring Runo who huffed) proceeded to chuckle at their friend's plight. After a bit, Runo then got a sly smirk on her face as she turned to Alice.
"You know Alice, I like how you're constantly talking about how everyone else would be a cute couple, yet you never mention yourself as a cute couple with anyone." Runo said with a wry grin to Alice.
"That's because quite frankly, I just haven't met anyone I find that interesting yet. I'm sure one day in the future I'll find that special someone, but I'm in no hurry for it to happen." Alice said to Runo. Julie giggled as she had a thought occur to her.
"Who knows, maybe that Uzuki kid that just moved in might be cute and your type. He seems to be around your age, too." Julie said to Alice with a smile. Alice shrugged.
"Possibly. But really, I make no promises on that since I don't even know him yet. Besides, who's to say he's even a social type of person?" Alice said with a shrug.
"I bet if we go out for a walk, we might run across him." Dan said with a smirk. Marucho considered Dan's comment then nodded.
"It's certainly possible. And there's enough time until it gets dark, if we have Kato drive us in the limo, that we can go for a bit of window shopping to see if we can find him." Marucho said with a nod, making Dan cheer along with Julie and Runo. Shun and Alice just exchanged a non-commital smile with each other, figuring they may as well go along with it. Eventually, the group was in the limo with Kato. Kato then looked through the rear-view mirror at the Brawlers.
"Where to, everyone?" Kato asked. After a pause, Marucho spoke up.
"Just around town for now. We're not entirely sure as yet, plus we're seeing if we can run into someone as well." Marucho replied to Kato who nodded.
"As you wish, Young Master." Kato said as he started driving around the area.
(back with Rubedo)
"Oh, are you going out, son? Would you mind running an errand for me?" Rubedo's mom asked him, not seeing him roll his eyes at the expected question. He nodded though.
"All right. What did you need?" Rubedo asked.
"Go pick up some more drinks. All we have left is bottled water, and I know how much you like your juice and sodas." Rubedo's mom said to Rubedo who nodded.
"Yeah, I can do that. I'll be back later." Rubedo said, pulling a loose-fitting black leather jacket over the red muscle shirt and black jean shorts he'd chosen to put on when changing. He'd also made sure to put his black Baku-pod on his arm and his three main Bakugan (Pyrus Laserman, Fear Ripper and Centipoid) tucked into the chest pocket of his leather jacket. He made sure to double-knot the red laces on his black short boots before he went out. Once he got to the store, he went inside, not seeing the limo that happened to drive by as he went inside before parking out in front of the store.
After going in and getting the needed drinks and a bag of jerky for himself (say what you will about Rubedo, but he loves himself some jerky, specifically Teriyaki and Original flavored), he made to leave, only to almost literally run head-long into Dan and the Brawlers as they went to go inside, with the result that Rubedo nearly faceplanted on the ground, if not for him using the boxes of soda to carefully catch himself from falling, eventually setting the groceries down carefully before turning to help Dan up.
"Oh my, that was nearly bad. Are you guys okay?" Rubedo asked the Brawlers as he helped each of them up in turn, eventually ending on Alice, who for whatever reason took one look into his eyes and immediately turned away so no one would see the small hint of pink on her cheeks after she looked at him. As for Rubedo, he found himself impressed by how cute the three girls were, moreso Alice than the other two, but he definitely let himself admire each of them at least briefly. Because he turned away when he did to make sure the guys were also okay, he missed the knowing smirks that Julie and Runo both gave Alice.
"Yeah, we're fine, just..." Dan started to say, before he saw who he was talking to and grinned.
"Well, well. Aren't you that new kid who just moved in to the neighborhood recently?" Dan asked Rubedo who nodded with a smile.
"Yes, that's correct. My mother and I just moved in about a week ago. Sorry if I wasn't social that much of late, but it takes time to get settled into a new area. I'm Rubedo Uzuki." Rubedo said, introducing himself to the Brawlers. Shun gave Rubedo an appraising glance, but eventually just gave a respectful nod.
"I see. Nice to meet you, Rubedo. I'm Shun Kazami, but you can just call me Shun." Shun said to Rubedo who nodded happily.
"Nice to meetcha, kid! I'm Dan Kuso!" Dan said. Rubedo rolled his eyes.
"Can you really call me 'kid' when I'm probably older than most of you?" Rubedo pointed out calmly with a only slightly deadpan look, making Shun actually chuckle at the quip.
"Ooh, I like this guy. He's got wit." Shun remarked with a smirk. Dan rolled his eyes at Shun.
"Oh shut it, Shun. And that's a fair point. I'm just used to calling all newcomers 'kid'. I don't mean anything by it." Dan explained. Rubedo nodded to that.
"You'll get used to Dan eventually, Rubedo. I'm Marucho Marukura by the way." Marucho said to Rubedo who smiled.
"Thanks for the advice, Marucho. I'll keep it in mind. I assume the ladies over there have names, or do they only giggle and poke fun at each other?" Rubedo quipped teasingly, unable to resist taking a shot of his own at the girls who turned to face him at his question.
"Sorry, bit of an inside joke with us. I'm Runo Misaki." Runo said to Rubedo who nodded.
"I see. Nice to meet you, Runo." Rubedo replied. Julie giggled again as she looked at Rubedo.
"Just don't set off Runo's jealous or stubborn streaks and you should get along fine with her. I'm Julie Makimoto." Julie pointed out jokingly.
"I AM NOT STUBBORN OR JEALOUS!" Runo snapped irritably at Julie, not hearing Rubedo laugh at this.
"Nice to meet you, Julie. Also, I believe you, Runo. But you have to admit that reaction doesn't really do much of a job of convincing people that you're neither jealous or stubborn." Rubedo said wisely to Runo who actually seemed to consider this.
"That's...actually a surprisingly good point. Thanks for the advice, Rubedo." Runo said sheepishly. Rubedo nodded, before turning his attention over to Alice, who he noticed at that moment was fairly quiet. He then walked over to her, gently putting a hand on her shoulder to give it a light but encouraging pat.
"Penny for your thoughts? Or are they perhaps more valuable than that?" Rubedo asked Alice teasingly. Alice blinked as she realized Rubedo was next to her.
"O-oh, sorry, was just distracted by stuff is all. You said your name was Rubedo?" Alice asked Rubedo shyly, and he nodded.
"Yes, that's right. I take it you didn't hear me before because you were distracted. And that's fine if that's the case. No one's perfect, after all. Or is that literally your name?" Rubedo said slightly teasingly with a grin, enjoying the slightly flustered look on Alice's face.
"N-no, that's not my name at all. I'm Alice Gehabich." Alice said, finally introducing himself. Rubedo nodded with a smile.
"Alice? Hmm, seems accurate...a charming name for a charming lady. Granted you seem to not be as outspoken as some but that's not a bad thing really in and of itself. Nice to meet you, Alice." Rubedo said with what he hoped was a charming smirk, finding Alice particularly interesting for a reason he couldn't quite put his finger on at that moment. Luckily for him and for Alice, who was at this point smiling shyly, but struggling to get the red out of her cheeks as she looked at Rubedo, Dan chose that moment to speak up.
"Say, I had a thought, Rubedo. Do you happen to play Bakugan?" Dan asked Rubedo who nodded.
"Why yes, yes I do. I don't play it much mostly because before now I didn't really know that many people around here having only been in this neighborhood a short time, but I do play it. Why do you ask?" Rubedo asked, an intrigued expression on his face. Dan grinned.
"Why else? We should have a battle! I'm curious to see how good you are!" Dan said to Rubedo, who smiled then frowned.
"I wouldn't mind taking you on Dan, but I was actually out getting stuff from the store for my mom and I since we're still getting settled into our new house and thus don't have that much in the cupboards just yet. But then as I said earlier, moving in is a lengthy process. Maybe after I get my stuff back to my house we can have a match, or if it gets too late we can meet up for a match tomorrow or something. But I'm definitely up for a battle with you, Dan. I've been studying a lot about you and the other Brawlers if I'm being honest. You see, from what I've read, you guys are said to be some of the best Bakugan players in town.
So that makes me excited to see how I stack up against you guys. I honestly don't expect to do the best, but I'm hopeful I can at least hold my own." Rubedo replied to Dan, gesturing to the sodas sat down next to him before his eyes widened as he realized something was missing. Rubedo had to bite back a swear word as he remembered there were ladies present and he'd been taught never to curse in front of a lady. He then turned to the Brawlers again.
"Umm, did any of you happen to see a bag of jerky hit the ground near any of you just now? I was holding a bag of jerky that I'd just bought, but I think it got knocked out of my hands when I bumped into you guys. Sorry about that by the way, should've waited to make sure no one was coming in before walking out." Rubedo said to the Brawlers who looked at each other before Alice suddenly smiled, leaning down and grabbing a bag from the ground next to her, where it'd landed as if by some odd chance. She then offered it to Rubedo, managing not to blush when looking at him, to her relief.
"Would this be the bag of jerky you were speaking of?" Alice asked Rubedo, who looked over and grinned widely as he saw the bag.
"Oh yeah, that's the one!" Rubedo said happily, reaching over to take the bag back from Alice, their hands briefly touching in the process. Rubedo then looked away so Alice wouldn't see his cheeks burning with tinges of pink on them as their hands touched. After he'd gotten it under control, he pulled his hand away from Alice.
"Thank you. I should've guessed it'd land next to you. My luck just seems to work that way sometimes. Granted it's not usually this good, but it is what it is. Well, as much fun as this has been, I probably should get this stuff home before my mom worries about me." Rubedo said, sounding surprisingly reluctant to leave this group behind. Marucho then smiled as he had an idea.
"Don't you live nearby, Rubedo?" Marucho asked. Rubedo frowned at Marucho.
"Yeah, fairly close by actually. Why?" Rubedo asked warily.
"We came here in a limo driven by my butler, Kato. So if you want, we can give you a ride home to take your stuff home and if you want, you can ask your mom if you can come hang out with us overnight. I'm sure my parents won't mind one more person joining us for our sleepover." Marucho suggested to Rubedo who found himself smiling but reluctant.
"That sounds amazing! But are you sure there's enough room, both for my stuff in the limo and for me at your house?" Rubedo asked Marucho, sounding slightly hesitant. Marucho saw this and smiled.
"Not to worry, Rubedo. The limo is huge. There's definitely plenty of room for you and your stuff in it. As for my house, I'm sure we can work out some sleeping arrangments to accomodate you. We'd really like to get to spend more time with you, some of us more than others. So what do you say?" Marucho asked Rubedo hopefully. Rubedo still looked hesitant, but when he went to look at the others, trying to gauge by their expressions what they thought, he made the mistake of looking directly at Alice, who surprisingly had a really hopeful look on her face. Cursing himself under his breath for being such a sucker for a pretty face, Rubedo sighed.
"Oh, why not? One night can't hurt. Though I can't be sure my mom will necessarily agree. She tends to be over-protective of me at times. But given that I've been known to vanish for large periods of time at a time before, I can't really blame her I suppose." Rubedo said either ignoring or not seeing the confused looks on Dan, Shun and Alice's faces at his remark. Runo, however, grinned widely at this.
"How interesting. That reminds me an awful lot of a certain someone else I know." Runo said playfully, giving Alice a knowing wink as she said this, making Alice's face flush pink as she realized that Runo had been referring to her.
"T-that's not funny, Runo. It's not nice to poke fun at something like that." Alice said unhappily, frowning at Runo's comment. Rubedo turned to look at Alice as she spoke, smiling at her.
"Don't feel bad about it, Alice. As I said before, we all have our quirks. And besides, if it WAS you Runo was referring to, I'm sure you have your reasons for disappearing, so you don't have to feel bad about it. It makes you you." Rubedo said to Alice, gently tilting her head very slightly so he could look her in the eyes for a moment, letting himself appreciate how similar they looked to chocolate with the shade of brown they were. He then let her head go carefully.
"Sorry about that. Not sure why I did that other than you looked interesting for some reason. I tend to do things like that a lot without thinking about it, so I won't feel bad if you decide to slap me or tell me to respect your space as I respect either choice that you make." Rubedo said to Alice who smiled at him.
"No, I don't mind. I was just surprised by it is all. You have surprisingly gentle hands for a guy, Rubedo." Alice replied with a shy smile, both of them now sporting pink tinges on their faces, before quickly composing themselves.
"Yes, well, I think the others are probably getting impatient with us. Luckily, all I bought was sodas, non-perishable juice drinks and the one bag of jerky so I didn't have anything that could spoil. But in all seriousness Alice, you don't have to feel bad about being yourself. I don't mind it at all. After all, we all have our eccentricities." Rubedo said as he turned to grab his stuff, not seeing Alice look him over apprasingly as he was bent over, his shoulders hunched. Runo smirked as she looked at Alice.
"Ah, what's this now? Checking the new guy out, are we? He is kind of a dish, I'll give you that." Runo said with a sly smile as Alice turned to face her, embarrassment all over her face at being caught looking Rubedo over, hoping only Runo had seen her checking him out before sighing slightly as she looked at Runo.
"Maybe a little. But I was more curious to see how a guy could have hands as gentle as his when he clearly looks like he's built like an athlete." Alice admitted sheepishly. Julie gave Alice a sly smirk.
"Ah, so someone has themselves a crush, do they?" Julie said teasingly to Alice. Alice turned to Julie wide-eyed, her face slightly red and hoping Rubedo hadn't heard Julie's question, which fortunately for Alice, he hadn't because he was busy gathering his purchases together with a bit of help from Dan and Shun.
"N-no, that's not it at all! He's just really perplexing to me is all." Alice said, attempting to deny her instant attraction to Rubedo. Needless to say, neither Runo or Julie believed her but they let the subject drop for the time being, luckily for Alice. The group then helped Rubedo load his stuff into the limo as he got in with them. Kato looked back at the group, simply smiling. If Kato was bothered by the extra person who'd joined the group in the limo, he didn't let it show.
"I take it you guys found who you were looking for?" Kato asked the group knowingly, not seeing the confused look on Rubedo's face as he gave the Brawlres a look that was a mix of confused and shocked.
"Wait, what? You guys were looking for me?" Rubedo asked in surprise. Dan nodded, smirking at Rubedo as he crossed his arms excitedly.
"Of course! I told you we were curious about you. That and I wasn't lying about wanting to battle you." Dan explained to Rubedo.
"Ah, I see. I thought maybe you were hunting me or something. My bad. I tend to overthink things a lot as you'll probably figure out quickly enough." Rubedo replied sheepishly. To his surprise, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, turning towards it and smiling when he saw Alice was the source of the hand.
"Oh, looks like someone's getting more comfortable with me. That's good. And thanks for that, I probably needed that." Rubedo said with a grin, smiling at Alice who shyly smiled back. After a bit, the limo pulled up out in front of Rubedo's house, as he got out, with Marucho and Alice in tow to help carry, as well as surprisingly Shun. The four got all of the purchases inside, where Alice and Marucho were explaining things to Rubedo's mom while Shun and Rubedo went up to Rubedo's room so he could grab some pajamas and stuff since surprisingly she'd said okay pretty quickly to the sleepover, clearly happy that Rubedo was making friends, or maybe it was because she liked the Brawlers.
Either way, Rubedo was sent upstairs to get some pajamas and things for the sleepover. As he went into his bathroom to grab his toothbrush and deodorant, Shun let himself look around a bit, an intrigued expression on his face as he looked at all the Pyrus stuff in Rubedo's room, his eyes eventually landing on the medallion hanging on a wall in the shape of the Pyrus symbol. At that moment, Rubedo walked out of the bathroom, seeing Shun looking around. "Ah, looking around at my room? I don't mind. See anything in particular that catches your eye?" Rubedo asked Shun who turned to Rubedo with a nod.
"That's a fancy-looking medallion you've got there." Shun said, pointing at the medallion on the wall. Rubedo blinked at it.
"Ah, that. Yes, it was a gift from a friend of mine from when I lived at my old house. Normally, I wear it around my neck, but I decided to not wear it today to change things up. It's said to be in the shape of the Pyrus symbol. If you can't tell from my room, I quite like Pyrus-type Bakugan. Something about them just appeals to me on an instinctual level." Rubedo said quietly. Shun nodded.
"I can understand that. It sounds similar to how I found myself drawn to Ventus Bakugan. Each of the Brawlers except for Alice, who oddly enough has no Bakugan of her own, was also pulled towards an element of their own." Shun replied. Surprisingly, Rubedo nodded.
"Right. If I recall what I read correctly, yours is Ventus, Dan's is Pyrus like mine, Runo's is Haos, Marucho's is Aquos and Julie's is Subterra, making me guess that if she had one, Alice would probably be Darkus." Rubedo replied with a nod as Shun blinked at this.
"Yeah, that's correct. You've done your homework, haven't you?" Shun asked Rubedo who smirked and nodded.
"But of course! Why wouldn't I if I intend to try my luck against each of you eventually?" Rubedo replied conversationally, to which Shun nodded in approval.
"I see. That does make sense. After all, you wouldn't be much of a Brawler-to-be if you weren't eager about the game of Bakugan." Shun told Rubedo who smiled.
"Fair enough. I suppose we have everything I need so we should get downstairs to the others." Rubedo nodded to Shun. Shun nodded, though his eyes flickered towards the slightly-ajar closet, his instincts telling him there was something important inside but not wanting to pry into Rubedo's business more than he already had. The two went downstairs to the others who smiled as they saw Rubedo had everything he needed. Not long after, Rubedo was settled back into the back of the limo between a shyly smiling Alice and an eager Dan, waving eagerly to his mom as the limo drove away towards Marucho's house where the sleepover would be held.
(outro/preview of next episode narrated by Dan)
"Dan here! Next time on Bakugan: The Pyrex Chronicles, the Brawlers bring Rubedo back to Marucho's house to get to know him. At first everything goes swimmingly until an unknown person shows up to crash the party, apparently looking for Rubedo. Who is this person and how do they know Rubedo? Also, I manage to finally get my match against Rubedo! Is he any good? Who will triumph! Either way, you won't want to miss the next episode! BAKUGAN, BRAWL! See you there!"
end of chapter
A/N: And that's chapter 1! I know, not anything remotely like the original version, but I was advised that the original would need a massive overhaul, plus I myself when reading the original didn't like where I'd been taking the story. I think this time I have a much better idea in mind of how I'm going to do the story this time around. So yeah, no guarantees on when updates will happen since it will depend on how much I find myself in the mood for them. That and I have several other stories to work on as well.
And speaking of my other stories, we're at a bit past the halfway point of the current poll on my profile for Pokemon: Shuffled Journeys! For those curious, here are the current standings as of the halfway point:
1st place (3 votes)- Gloria
2nd place (2 votes, 2 way tie)- May and Marnie
4th place (1 vote, 3 way tie)- Jasmine, Irida and Anabel
7th place/last (no votes, 2 way tie)- Shauna and Mallow
Again, there's still a bit under a week left so there's plenty of time! So feel free to vote on the poll! You can vote for up to 3 different girls! And feel free to invite others to vote too! This Sunday aka May 8th is the current targeted deadline for the poll, so you have until then to cast your votes. I hope to avoid ties this time around, but if there IS any sort of tie I'll use my own judgement to break them as they occur.
That being said, feel free to review or PM with your opinions/feedback on this story (or any of my stories, I always welcome input and feedback). That said, I'd like to once again give a special shoutout and thank you to JustAnAverageGuy101 for helping me make this re-write happen by way of giving lots of useful input, feedback and helping me brainstorm ideas for this rewrite. And to be honest? I may have him help me proofread these chapters to make extra sure I'm not messing anything up but given I just finished re-watching season 1 I think I'll have things in hand. So enjoy the story and until next update, sithlorde1988 out!